Viva Las Vegas
by beaglelover719
Summary: The team finds themselves in Vegas for a wedding which results in multiple pairings. I'm not sure this is the best summary - I attempted a destination wedding but this is not a Penelope/Kevin fic. JJ/Emily BBF, Emily/Derek and JJ/Hotch pairings. Some swearing, I suffer from potty mouth.


A/N – I've been trying to challenge myself in my writing. I'm not really sure that it's working. I'd really like to try to do a challenge, but I'm not sure that I can live up to the prompts which would result in an epic fail. So anyway, I make myself little sticky notes and try to work from them. This was my "Destination Wedding" sticky. I don't think I succeeded because while this is the setting of my story there is very little about an actual wedding. I'm also trying to work on a different coupling, specifically Morgan and Prentiss, but I keep circling back to JJ and Hotch. I don't know how to overcome that. If anyone has any suggestions I would certainly welcome them.

A/N 2 – I don't own Criminal Minds. This is obviously very OOC. But you know, I thought the writer's had Hotch acting OOC on last Wednesday's episode. Seriously, we get it, Hotch is getting laid.

**Viva Las Vegas**

It was the incessant ringing of the telephone that finally penetrated her brain. The masculine "Hotchner" had her eyes popping open. JJ lay still for a moment trying to remember where she was as she eavesdropped unabashedly on the conversation that Hotch was currently conducting. When he made a comment about driving to the airport she finally decided that it was probably best for her to get up and leave. She had expected him to head to the shower after he disconnected his call so she was surprised when the bed shifted indicating he'd sat back down.

"It's okay," she said softly, "I'll be gone by the time you get back here." She sat up and looked to where he sat on the edge of the bed and watched as he scrubbed a hand over his face.

"We need to talk about this." This being the fact that they spent the majority of the evening tangled in his hotel room.

"What is there to say? You need to get in the shower and get cleaned up and go pick your girlfriend up from the airport." JJ was proud that she managed to keep her voice calm and even. No infliction of the jealously or pain at the thought he was leaving her to go to another woman. How could there be, he was never hers to being with. She looked up to find his eyes focused intently on her.

"I have to go, but this isn't over JJ, we need to talk about what happened."

"What happened?" JJ shrugged, "We came to Vegas to celebrate Pen and Kevin getting married. We obviously celebrated a little too much. You know what they say, Hotch, what's happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." She clutched the sheet to her. "You better get moving." She gave him a weak smile. "Seriously, go."

Hotch studied her for a long minute before sighing and getting up from the bed. "Well, I still want to talk." He stated stubbornly, before disappearing into the bathroom.

JJ watched him as he moved across the room, silently cataloging every action. Honestly, she wasn't sure that she'd ever get to see a gloriously naked Aaron Hotchner again and she wanted to have something to dream on. She waited until she heard the shower turn on, then the muted sound of water hitting his body before she pulled up her knees and dropped her head on them, a sob breaking free.

Giving herself a moment to mourn the loss of her fantasy, she wiped her eyes quickly and stood from the bed beginning to gather her clothes that had been scattered the previous evening. She managed to find everything but her panties when the shower suddenly turned off. She was slipping into her shoes when Hotch appeared at the door, towel wrapped around his slim waist.

Relief to find her still there washed over his features. "I was worried you'd be gone."

She smiled guiltily. "I would have been if I could find the rest of my clothing." She blushed as he looked her over and raised a brow. "You know, I don't need them, if they turn up just tell Beth they must have been left in the room from the previous guest." She turned to leave only to have him stop her.

"Hold on, you're not going to go wandering through Vegas by yourself at four in the morning." He moved over to his suitcase and started to rummage for clothes. "I'll see you back to your hotel."

"I'm an FBI agent. I'm carrying a glock in my bag. I do not _need_ you to see me back to my room." JJ snapped.

He studied her intently. "You're a beautiful woman alone in the early morning. You know the stuff we see. There is no way that I'm going to allow you to leave here unescorted by me." He slid his boxers on and jeans in rapid succession.

The ridiculousness of it finally had her temper snapping. "You have got to be fucking kidding me. I'm getting kicked out of your bed because your girlfriend shows up and you're concerned about being chivalrous?"

"JJ, I…"

He was moving towards her when she held up a hand to stop him. "Honestly, if you tell me you never meant for this to happen I swear to God I'll be using my weapon on you. Don't make this harder than it already is Aaron; leave me a fucking shred of dignity."

The knock on the door saved her. "That will be housekeeping. I called and requested they come and change the bedding. Considering how quickly they responded this must be a fairly common occurrence." She gave him a tight smile as she moved to answer the door. By the time she had allowed the maid entrance he had a shirt pulled on and was ready to follow her out.

The ride down in the elevator was quiet, they moved out through the lobby and on to the strip when Hotch finally turned to JJ. "Please, let me see you back to your hotel."

JJ shook her head sadly. "Go pick up Beth, Hotch." Then she turned and made her way up the strip.

CM~CM~CM~CM~CM

Emily Prentiss yawned and stretched, she was still a little jet lagged from her flight coupled with her long night. It had been so wonderful to see her team again. She didn't realize how completely she'd missed them until she walked into the chapel and saw them all there.

"Oh God."

The groan beside her had eyes popping open. There was someone in bed with her. What the hell did she do? She racked her brain trying to remember exactly where she was and what she done the previous evening.

"Oh God, I'm going to be sick." The full sentence was able to shed a little light to her dilemma. It was Derek Morgan that had lain in bed beside her. She turned in time to glance a peek at his naked backside as he raced to the bathroom. She winced as she heard the sound of him getting violently sick.

Setting up she glanced around the room, this was not the room that she was sharing with JJ so obviously it had to be Derek's. Fortunately she didn't need to fall back on her experience as a profiler to know that her attraction to her previous team mate had sprung back to life full force last evening.

She had been tickled to receive the invitation to Penelope's destination wedding. Leave it to Garcia to choose Vegas. Penelope and Kevin had been ridiculously sweet. The ceremony was adorably suited to the quirky technical analyst. After the ceremony they had partied in style compliments of David Rossi. There was something about that man and weddings.

Having decided on only a small intimate affair there was only the team, Kevin and Erin Strauss present for the wedding. After Penelope and Kevin retired to the bridal suite they fractured off. Alex Blake retired with her husband, Rossi and Strauss decided to take in a show. Reid went to visit his mother, and then had plans to meet with a woman he'd met on a previous case. That left Hotch, JJ, Emily and Derek. JJ was most likely going to kill Emily when she made it back to their room. This was supposed to be a girl's weekend for the two of them and she completely bailed on her.

Emily was brought back to the present when she heard the toilet flush and heard the running of water in the sink indicating that Derek was most likely going to be joining her back in the room very shortly and she hadn't moved.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

She looked up to find a still naked Derek Morgan lounging against the bathroom door frame, toothbrush in hand. She blinked owlishly. "JJ is going to kill me. She's probably worried sick about me."

"I'm sure JJ is fine Em. Hotch wouldn't just leave her to fend for herself in Vegas." He turned back to the bathroom.

Emily blew out a breath; JJ would most likely forgive her if she'd seen what Emily just feasted her eyes on. "I should probably go and check on her just the same."

"You're going to skip out on me so soon?" He commented with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"She's been going through a lot, Derek. This is the first weekend that she's been really out on her own and I just dumped her. We talked about doing all these things together and I took off with you. What do you think the chances are that she had any fun with Hotch?" Sheet firmly around her body she began to move from the bed.

"Don't you think we should be discussing where we go from here?" Derek asked, now obviously a little perplexed by Emily's actions.

The question had Emily pausing. "What do you mean?"

"You and I have some details to iron out."

Derek moved through the room and reached for Emily's hand. Her eyes widened as she took in the band circling the ring finger of his left hand, her mouth fell open when he pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed the band circling the ring finger of her left hand.

"Plus, I had kind of hoped I would be spending the morning with my wife."

CM~CM~CM~CM~CM

"Jayje!" Emily threw the door open to the hotel room they were sharing. "JJ! Please tell me you're here, I am so freaking out!"

"Out here."

It was then that Emily noticed that the door to the balcony stood open.

"Oh my God, JJ…" Emily raced through the door and stopped short, her friend was sitting on a lounge chair nursing a bottle of champagne; she looked like she'd been crying. "Hey," She asked curiously, "What happened to you?"

JJ shook her head. "Nothing. I was just really stupid last night."

"Well," Emily replied, snagging the bottle and moving to the other lounger, "Apparently it was the night for it."

JJ, tired of wallowing in her own misery, looked at her friend interestedly. "Yeah?"

Emily took a swig from the bottle. "Oh yeah."

"Where did you go last night? You were dancing then you disappeared." Not that she or Hotch really expended a lot of effort to find the pair.

Emily blushed, "Yeah, about that…"

"Hold that thought. Let me get a glass." JJ made her way into the room and quickly got a cup from the bathroom. "I've decided that sobriety isn't necessary until it's time for me to go back home."

Emily winced. "That bad? I'm sorry I left you with Hotch." She looked at her friend, curious as to what could have happened. "Was it really that awful? I mean, I know he's not the most fun guy on the team, but you two seem like you enjoy each other. You've always had some kind of click."

JJ snorted, they clicked alright. "No, it was actually pretty fantastic until his girlfriend called to let him know that she'd flown in to surprise him."

"He dumped you to go hang out with his girlfriend? That's kind of douchey." Emily scoffed.

"To be fair, I wouldn't have been interested in a threesome." She responded drily.

That comment had Emily sitting up from the lounger and turning to JJ. "Okay, run that by me again? Just exactly where were you when Beth called?"

JJ took a swig from her glass. "We were in his hotel room." She raised her glass at Emily in a mock salute. "More specifically his bed."

Emily gasped, "You slept with Hotch?"

"To be truthful there wasn't a whole lot of sleeping going on."

Emily opened and closed her mouth, then giggled. "Wow. How was it?"

"Em, I just confessed to you that I slept with my boss. My boss who is not single, you know I'm not exactly nuts about Beth but still, and all you ask is how was it?"

"Was it bad? It was bad wasn't it?" Emily teased. "I mean obviously you're not happy so I'm guessing he didn't really get the job done."

"Shut up. It was not bad." She defended.

"Wow, that's a ringing endorsement if I ever heard one." Emily laughed. "I can just see you now," She batted her eyes at JJ and said in a breathy voice, " Oh God, Hotch, that was not bad."

It was JJ's turn to giggle. "Whatever. It was amazing, okay? Happy?"

Emily smiled widely. "And here I was worried about bailing on you."

JJ held her smile for a minute then said, "Yeah, about that, what happened to you last night? One minute you and Derek were dancing, if that's what you call it, and then you were gone." She looked at her friend suspiciously. "Holy cow, you and Morgan were doing the same thing Hotch and I was doing!" JJ accused.

"Close."

"What does that mean? Close?"

"It means that I did end up in Derek's bed and we did have sex." She paused dramatically. "But we were actually consummating our marriage."

"WHAT!" JJ rose from her lounged and mimicked Emily's pose.

"Just think if you and Hotch would have stuck with us it could have been a double ceremony." Emily dropped her head into her hands.

Unable to stop it a laugh bubbled up, Emily lifted her head then the two of them completely lost it and before long were howling with laughter.

Now both collapsed back against the loungers JJ looked over at Emily. "So what, did you leave Derek sleeping in the room?"

"Not exactly." Emily looked over at her sheepishly, "He thinks I'm getting coffee." Emily leaned her head back and stared up at the sky. "I panicked. I didn't know what to do. I drank a serious amount of alcohol last night."

"So are you saying you only married him because you were drunk?"

"Jeez Jay, I don't know. I'm forty-three years old and I've lived alone since I was eighteen. Can you imagine me married?"

"Yes. I can. Do you love him?" JJ looked over at Emily. "Because I can't picture you losing complete control of your faculties and marrying Derek if that's not what you really wanted to do."

Emily smiled. "You know you're not supposed to profile the team. It's a rule."

"Too bad you're not actually part of the team any longer."

"I'm a lifetime honorary member." Emily argued.

"You're avoiding the question. So I'll take that as a yes."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Fine, yes. I do love him." She admitted.

"Then what's the problem?"

"JJ, I live in London, England. Derek lives in Annandale, Virginia."

"So? Move. Problem solved. What do you want to do Em? You can find work anywhere. If you want to be with Derek then you should make it happen." JJ reached over and grabbed Emily's hand. "He's a great guy, you love him, and he loves you. You're married."

"Jayje, please don't take this the wrong way, but you know, sometimes love isn't enough."

JJ knew that Emily was referring to her own failed relationship. "You know, Will and I both agreed that it wasn't working, it wasn't due to lack of love for one another. He's a wonderful man and a great father but in the end we were just too different. Do you know that we would go weeks without actually spending time together? We were co-parenting Henry and living like roommates. We both deserved more."

"Like Hotch?"

Tears gathered in JJ's eyes. "No. Last night was a mistake, it should have never happened. He's with Beth."

Emily watched JJ for a second. "So, how did it happen?"

"I don't know," JJ shrugged, "I went to kiss his cheek goodnight and somehow our lips met and we just ignited. I barely remember making it to the hotel room." She remembered every vivid detail once they hit the room. She had it committed to memory.

"Have you considered that maybe Beth was the mistake?"

JJ smirked. "Since the minute he introduced her."

Emily laughed at her friends' response. "Jay, have you considered the possibility that you might be in love with Hotch?"

"For all the good it does me, yeah, I've considered it." If she weren't in love with him she would imagine leaving his room this morning wouldn't have been so painful.

Understanding that JJ wasn't going to say anything further Emily stood up. "Well, I need to go get cleaned up." She stared down at her friend. "Don't forget, we're meeting the team for brunch."

"Are you and Derek going to announce your recent change in status?" JJ asked, halting Emily's progress.

Emily shook her head. "No this is Pen's weekend. Derek and I still have a lot to figure out before we go announcing anything."

JJ smiled, "Garcia is going to get such a kick out of all the drama that played out on her weekend."

Both girls giggled, Emily was about to go into the bathroom when the knocking started.

JJ looked up at the brunette. "Any bets that's your bridegroom?" She chuckled.

Emily frowned, "It can't be, he doesn't know where I'm staying." She looked at JJ. "Maybe it's your luvah?"

"Well, we do know he likes going from bed to bed." JJ responded drolly. "But it's not Hotch he has no idea where I'm staying." She sighed as the knocking increased. "Whoever it is really wants one of us. I guess the smart thing to do would be to go and answer the door instead of speculating whose on the other side."

Reaching the door first Emily checked the peephole and swung the door open hurriedly to reveal a very frazzled Penelope Garcia Lynch.

"Emily." She breathed out, "Where is – JJ!" She bent over and took a deep breath. "Thank goodness. You are both alright." She closed the hotel room door. "Now," she growled at both of them, "What the heck is going on?"

"We were going to ask you the same thing, Pen." Emily rubbed her shoulder consolingly. "Where is Kevin?"

"Kevin is all cuddly in the Bridal Suite, where I should be, where I would be if it weren't for the constant interruptions."

JJ scowled. "What are you talking about, Pen, what interruptions?"

"Well, first my Chocolate Adonis came knocking trying to find out where you are staying Ms. Prentiss. Apparently he was concerned when you weren't back with coffee."

"Why didn't he just call me?" Emily asked, blushing.

"Apparently you rushed out of his room so quickly this morning you forgot your cell phone."

"Busted." JJ grinned.

"You may want to clamp it there missy." Garcia snapped, turning to her. "If having Derek show up on my honeymoon wasn't bad enough can you imagine how mortifying it was to have my _boss_ show up looking for you, Buttercup? And before you ask, he did try to call you but you have been refusing to take his calls." She glanced at JJ. "Would you like to explain what happened? He was sporting a hand shaped slap when he showed up in my room this morning."

"Oh my God, he told Beth." Emily surmised. "Unless, you didn't hit him, did you?" She questioned JJ.

"Of course not!"

Penelope looked from Emily to JJ. "Told Beth what? Why would Beth…" She trailed off, understanding finally hitting her. "You and Boss Man?"

"Yeah, look who's busted now?" Emily mumbled.

Penelope shook her head. "Listen I don't trust that either of them didn't follow me so you better tell me what is going on and you better make it quick." Her eyes went back and forth between the two of them. "Well?"

"JJ slept with Hotch." Emily blurted out.

JJ watched as Penelope's mouth dropped open but before she could get anything out she yelled. "Emily married Derek _and_ she slept with him."

Penelope turned and concentrated on Emily. "Oh my god, you married Derek?"

"Ha! Bet you thought she was going to focus on me!"

"She should be focusing on you, at least I was married to the man I slept with. He wasn't dating another woman." She gloated.

"Hey!" JJ disputed, "I didn't have to twist his arm to sleep with me you know; he was a willing, active participant!"

"Oh JJ, I'm sorry!" Immediately contrite for the nasty comment, Emily went over to her, "Of course you didn't. That's what I was trying, but failed, to say earlier. If Hotch hadn't wanted it to happen it wouldn't have."

"Well he sure rushed out of the room this morning pretty quickly." JJ sniffled.

"And he is in an all fired up hurry to find you, that's for darn sure." Penelope added, moving to sit down on one of the rooms' beds. "He wasn't willing to wait until we were scheduled to meet."

The knock on the door had them all jumping before Penelope let out a little giggle. "Gosh, that's probably Kevin." She quickly moved to the door and pulled it open, not bothering to check the peephole. "Hello Husband."

"Technically I am a husband, just not yours." Derek Morgan stepped into the room. "Did I miss our first fight?" He pinned Emily with a look.

"Hey." She smiled sheepishly. "I just needed to see JJ." She said lamely, reaching out and attaching herself to her blonde friend. "She's got a problem and she needed my help."

"And she contacted you via telepathy?" Morgan held up the phone that Emily had left in the room when she made her escape. He let out a disappointed sigh. "Listen, Em, if you are having second thoughts we can just forget anything happened."

"What?! No. I'm not having second thoughts. I'm not." She denied. Contrary to everything she said earlier to JJ when it seemed like Derek was going to offer her an escape route she hotly refused any thought of it. "I really was worried about JJ. I told you that this morning." She moved until she was beside the man she had just recently pledged eternal love for. "I'm not second guessing anything."

"How'd you find us?" JJ asked.

Derek, taking his eyes off the woman beside him for a moment, winced and confessed. "I may have threatened to beat the shit out of Lynch."

"DEREK!" Penelope hollered at the same time she reached over and pinched him. "I cannot believe that you would threaten that sweet, gentle soul."

"Damn woman!" He positioned himself behind Emily. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. All I could think about was finding Emily. I didn't care how I did it."

Penelope stopped and stared at the two of them. "Oh my goodness, you are married! You love each other." Her eyes got watery. "When are you going to start having babies?"

JJ snorted as Emily blushed. "Jeez, Pen, we're barely married, besides, I'm forty three years old having babies might not be a possibility."

"Oh pish posh, you're physically fit and healthy. Who knows you may have created one last night." Garcia clapped at the possibility while the suggestion had Emily weak kneed.

"Pen, I just caught up to my runaway bride, do not send her running again." Derek remarked, seeing Emily's pallor.

"We didn't talk about babies." Emily said wide eyed.

"We'll have as many as you want beautiful."

"Aw." Garcia smiled at the happy couple. She would have said more but the knock on the door interrupted her. "That's probably my sweet man." She sent a frosty look Morgan's way. "Let me answer it before you scare him away."

"Let me get it, Baby Girl. I have to apologize for my behavior." Morgan shouldered her out of the way and opened the door.

"Derek?" Aaron Hotchner looked back at the room number to validate that he was at the right room. "Why are you in JJ's room?"

"I'm here for Emily." He opened the door and allowed the older man entrance.

Hotch briefly glanced at the occupants of the room before zeroing in on JJ. "I need to talk to you. Can we go somewhere private?"

"Sure, why don't we go back to your room?" JJ snapped, embarrassed and confused by his presence. "I'm sure Beth would love to hear what you think we need to discuss."

Maneuvering over to where she was standing, he grinned, "And here I was worried that you would be difficult." He grabbed her hand. "Let's go."

"Wait! What?" JJ protested as he began to lead her from the room. "I don't have shoes on."

Hotch glanced around until he spotted a pair of flip flops that he was pretty sure he'd seen her wearing before. "Here you go."

"You can't just order me around, you know." She grumbled.

He paused as she slipped her feet into the shoes. "You're the one who suggested my room." He replied reasonably.

"I was being facetious." Her eyes met and pleaded with Emily. "I didn't mean it. I don't want to go back to your room." Her last statement was uttered as they exited her room.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Penelope asked looking at both Derek and Emily.

"No." They replied in unison then looked at each other in surprise and grinned.

"I recognized that wild eyed crazed look Hotch had as soon as I opened the door. It had me a little freaked until I realized it was JJ he was looking for." Derek reached down and grasped Emily's hand.

"Em?" Penelope looked at the other woman for support.

"Oh honey, if JJ didn't want to go with Hotch she could have stopped him herself."

That was a true enough statement. Hotch might have height and weight on her but if JJ wanted to fight him she would have. "You think she wanted to go?"

"She didn't put up much of a fight."

The ride in the elevator was eerily reminiscent of the one she had taken earlier in the day. "How did you find me?"

Hotch looked down at the woman whose hand he'd yet to release. "When Penelope wouldn't help me I contacted the local FBI office."

"You know that's a misappropriation of government funds." She grumbled.

Hotch grinned, "No one questioned why I needed the information." He led her from the elevator, out the lobby then out to the still bustling strip. "You know, you might have reassured me that you were in the hotel next to mine this morning. I might not have worried so much if I'd known."

JJ shrugged a shoulder. "Forgive me if I wasn't overly concerned with assuaging your conscience."

They'd entered his hotel and were walking through the lobby. He punched the call button for the elevator. "I wasn't expecting Beth to fly out here."

JJ rolled her eyes as the elevator opened. "Obviously." As he punched his floor number she turned to him. "If you think that I'm going to go up to your room and appease your girlfriend by telling her that we didn't mean for last night to happen and it was a mistake or some other kind of BS you can forget it. I'm not sorry it happened and I'll be damned if I apologize for it."

"Good," He grinned, "I don't regret it either." He shook his head. "Do you honestly believe that last night would have happened at all if both of us hadn't wanted it to?"

He was leading her down the hallway to his room but his words had her feet coming to an abrupt stop. "I don't understand."

"I'm going to explain it to you, I tried this morning but you were too angry to listen." He dropped her hand and placed his on the small of her back to get her moving forward. "You should know better than jumping to conclusions without all the facts." He slid his key through the reader and opened the door ushering her inside. He watched as she scanned the room. "Beth isn't here JJ."

She looked at him in confusion. "Is she waiting downstairs?"

"No." He replied shortly, frustrated that she was being so obstinate. "I put her on a plane back to DC."

JJ's eyes narrowed. "Listen if you think I'm going to…" Her tirade was effectively stopped by Hotch leaning down and capturing her lips. It took JJ half a second to respond.

When they finally broke apart he rested his forehead on hers. "I haven't been seeing Beth for a while now. Penelope invited her to the wedding. I had no idea that she would be showing up here. I went to the airport and told her to go home. I would have told you that this morning but you seemed intent on jumping to the wrong conclusion."

"My feelings were hurt." She admitted in a small voice.

"You've known me for eight years, JJ. Did you honestly believe I could behave so caddishly?"

"Well we weren't exactly behaving like our normal selves." She pointed out in a small voice.

His hand caressed the side of her face. "Just so we're clear. _I_ very much wanted last night to happen, _I_ don't think it was a mistake, and _I_ don't want it to be something that we leave in Vegas."

She caressed his cheek. "Why did Beth slap you?" The imprint was faded but she could still see a faint impression.

He was surprised that she knew about that. "She wasn't pleased that I wasn't happy to see her or that I wanted her to turn around and go home."

"That's why you were so insistent on going to the airport this morning. You weren't trying to get rid of me you just didn't want her coming to the hotel."

"I should have stayed and explained to you and let her come to the hotel if she was so inclined." He shrugged. "I was caught off guard by the call. I wasn't trying to hide your presence from her."

She touched his face gently. "She slapped you because you told her to go home?"

"She thought the wedding invite was my way of saying that I wanted to try again. She slapped me because I informed her that I wasn't alone in Vegas." He grinned down at the blonde in front of him. "I guess I should be lucky she didn't have a weapon."

"I'd like to reiterate that my feelings were hurt." She replied, remembering her comment from the morning. "I didn't know that you and Beth were kaput."

"Yet you slept with me anyway?" He backed the two of them up to the bed. "That's rather scandalous."

"The opportunity presented itself." She replied cheekily. "It would have been like walking away from a slot machine that came up triple seven." JJ scoffed.

"Me being the prize?" He questioned, trying to understand her analogy. He sat down on the bed, his arms circling her hips.

"Exactly." She agreed, crawling up on his lap, her knees on either side of him. She leaned down, nipped his lips and pulled his shirt off of him. "Just so you know, I'm about to hit the jackpot again." Her hands were already working on his jeans.

He was grinning as he pulled her shirt off of her. "Just so you know where you're concerned, I'm a sure thing."

CM~CM~CM~CM~CM

"We were supposed to meet at noon, right?" Reid looked at his watch again as he directed the question to Strauss and Rossi.

"It's just now noon, Reid." Rossi responded, sipping his mimosa.

"And brides do tend to be late." Strauss added.

"Only because husbands tend to be handsy." Emily remarked as she and Derek approached the table, hand in hand.

"You weren't complaining thirty minutes ago." He grinned as the three at the table stared up at them dumbfounded.

"Did we miss something?" Reid asked Rossi.

Before anyone could answer Penelope came rushing up to the table, Kevin trailing slowly behind her. "We're late, I'm so sorry. We got distracted." She blushed prettily.

"It happens." Emily replied, grinning over at her new distraction.

Penelope looked around the table. "Where are JJ and Boss Man?"

"Anyone want to wager they got distracted?" Morgan snorted.

"What the hell did we miss?" Rossi barked as the waiter approached the table.

After giving their drink requests Penelope turned to Rossi. "How much do you know?"

"Do you think we've slipped into an Alternate Universe?" Reid asked as Morgan pulled Emily close. "Are those wedding rings?" He gaped looking at the pairs intertwined hands.

"They are temporary wedding rings." Morgan replied. "We need to go shopping."

"I thought you weren't saying anything today?" The group at the table looked up to see that JJ and Hotch had finally arrived.

Emily shrugged, "Well Penelope already knows so there is no use keeping it a secret."

"I choose not to take that as an insult." The bubbly blonde responded.

"Are you implying that you and Agent Morgan were married?" Strauss asked point blank.

"No." Rossi mocked, "They wouldn't just up and get married." He looked at the couple grinning wildly at him. "However it certainly appears that maybe they did just that."

Emily nodded. "We sure did."

Rossi turned to Hotch noticing the way he aligned himself by JJ. His body leaning into hers; they weren't touching, but they were very in tune with the other being. "What's going on with you two? Why were you late?"

"JJ likes to play the slots." Hotch winked over at the blonde who had turned an alarming shade of red.

"Is that a euphemism for something?" Rossi asked.

"You realize that fraternization is frowned upon." Strauss commented looking at the obvious couple.

"Yes ma'am," JJ replied, "Hotch and I are no more a couple than you and Rossi are." The table went silent.

"Wait, I'm lost, what happened to Beth?" Rossi questioned.

"That reminds me," Hotch glanced at Penelope, "please don't send any invitations on my behalf."

"That's why she showed up, because Penelope invited her to her wedding?" Emily laughed. "You weren't even expecting her?"

JJ nodded, "Apparently she thought the invitation was Hotch's way of rekindling the romance."

"Maybe if you had shared the fact that you were no longer a couple Penny wouldn't have sent her an invite." Rossi scolded. "What happened?"

"I drove to the airport, apologized for the inconvenience," the older man snorted, "Hey, I didn't invite her. She could have saved herself a lot of trouble if she would have bothered to call me before she took the initiative to jump on a plane."

"Why did you break up with her in the first place? I thought you liked her?" Rossi pressed.

"I did like her." Hotch replied tersely. "But it was never going to go anywhere." He glanced over at JJ.

"Sometimes even though you genuinely care for another person it just doesn't work." JJ interceded. "You'd think a person with three failed marriages under his belt would comprehend that."

"Look at you, sticking up for Aaron as usual." Rossi winked. "Put your claws away kitten, I was just messing with him. I want him to admit he dumped Beth as soon as you became available."

"Dave, you know that Aaron would never…" JJ began only to be interrupted herself.

"Actually…" Hotch stammered.

Amid the snickers around the table JJ stared at the man beside her. "No you did not."

He shrugged. "I've been attracted to you since the minute you walked in the door. There has always been something preventing me from acting on it. You were finally single."

"It's important to seize the opportunity when you recognize it, Aaron." The group turned to look at Erin Strauss in stunned surprise. "Otherwise twenty years will pass before another opportunity presents itself. And while the second chance is still just as sweet, one can't but help to wonder what could have been." She looked over at JJ. "Agent Jareau, starting Monday you will report directly to me."

JJ grinned as she reached for Hotch's hand. "Yes, ma'am."

Rossi chuckled and lifted his flute. "Here's to love."

The group let out a simultaneous gasp as they focused on the hand holding the flute.

"Dave," Hotch asked, "Is that a wedding ring?"

**Thank you for reading. :) ****Also I would like to thank, in advance, anyone who chooses to leave a review. They are very much appreciated and you are awesome! **


End file.
